The Werewolf's Mate (10 page)

Chapter 6

Her eyes fluttered to the
bright morning light. Moaning she rolled to her side, the warmth of a large
hand lying on her hip. “How long was I out?”

“Just the night and you had
more injuries than just your leg.”

“I figured.” Opening her eyes
she met Drake’s gaze. “Were you injured?”

“Minor wounds.”

“What attacked me?”

“An Ifrit. Apparently it was
sent in by Gilfore.”

“What’s his beef with you
Rovens?”

Drake smiled. “He was a rival
for my grandmother, Gwil’s mate. He lost and has held a grudge against us ever
since.”

“Damn, he’s causing a lot of
problems because he didn’t get the woman.”

“He’s psychotic and was
ousted from Alston when he tried to kill Gwil and Trelena on the night Gwil
claimed her for mate.”

Kalana lifted to her elbow
looking down at him. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“The attack is close; it can
come as soon as tomorrow night. We’re expecting small attacks to be made
between now and then to keep us on the move and try to tire us out.”

“But you have a plan for
that.”

“Of course I do.” He smiled,
bringing her on top of him. “I met with Rhys and the other heads of security
after the attack ended and we notified the Council of Elders of our plans.”

“You had me healed.”

“Yes, when I found you passed
out, and Mari having a nutty because she couldn’t get you to respond, I called
one of our healers in. You need to be more attune to your surroundings.”

“I would have been but I was
mad at you.”

“So I heard.”

Her gaze went from his eyes
to his hands gripping her thighs. “Drake, leash the claws.”

“You need to be more careful;
I’ll not lose you to foolishness.”

“And I don’t want to be lost,
so reel in your claws.”

“I don’t want you fighting.”

“What? You can’t be serious.”
Frowning, she sat back meeting his gaze.

“Oh I’m serious alright.”

She smacked his chest. “Damn
you, Roven, I have every right to fight.”

“I want you in this manor
away from the front lines. You’re not a warrior, Kalana, no matter what your
gifts or how well you fight.”

Kalana snorted as he sat up,
bringing her into his embrace. “I can fight. How do you think I’ve lived on my
own for nine years? And I’m a healer, one of the best, so don’t you tell me I
can’t be on the front lines. I will not be far from you in case you need me.”
Her eyes fluttered as he rested his head on her shoulder, his warm breath
flowing over the sensitive skin at the crook of her neck. Lifting her arms
around him she held him close. “I love you, Drake, and I don’t want to lose
you. I’m scared.”

“I am too, baby,” he
muttered. “I just got you back. I’d go insane if anything happened to you out
there because I couldn’t protect you.”

“I’m not going to hide like a
coward. I’m a Fairlawn and a Fae; if we go down, we go down fighting.”

Chapter 7

Kalana bolted upright at the
alarm, the fog of sleep disappearing quickly. “Drake?”

“The border’s under attack.
Get dressed.”

“Geez couldn’t they pick a
decent hour?” Grabbing her jeans, she started putting them on.

“Get your warrior gear,” he
said as he turned, meeting her gaze. “They’re in force; this is the big one.”

Nodding her head, she ran to
the closet as he took off out the door. Anticipation and anxiety ran through
her as she dressed.

“Mamma?”

“Livi, the fight’s here. I
need you to stay in the manor with Mari, do you understand?” she asked as she
turned full Fae. “Do not leave unless you have no choice.”

“I understand.”

“I love you.” Kneeling she
hugged her daugghter quickly. “I must go, your father’s calling for me.”

“Be safe, Mamma.”

“I’ll do my best.”
Shimmering, she met Drake and his security force running for the border on the
most western side of Alston.
Other Kin
were emerging from all ends, the
first wave of fighting forces were banding together.

* * * *

Kalana breathed heavily,
glancing up from healing one of the Naiads. She turned when an explosion rocked
the ground, eyes wide as a wave of energy came at them. “Oh shit!” Standing
over the wounded warrior, she lifted her hands as the shock wave neared casting
a shield over the triage area. “Ahhh.” Her feet slid on the ground as the force
pelted her back. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, holding the shield until
the wave passed. “What the hell was that?”

“Syren,” Joshia mumbled as he
rose. “If we had one up there, that wave wouldn’t have gotten through. Thanks
for the quick heal, Kay, but I need to get back in the river.”

Kalana grabbed his arm. “Did
you see Drake before you came in?”

“No. From what I heard, he
was fighting on the left front. If I hear anything I’ll let you know, but if he
hasn’t been brought in, take it as a good sign.”

She nodded her head, watching
him go before turning to the next round of wounded fighters coming in. Kalana
knew they needed her with her level of healing ability, but she itched to be at
the front fighting with her mate. Her grandfather had been back once with a
gash to his right forearm; she’d healed him and sent him back to the front
lines. The one thing about an
Other Kin
war was it could go on forever.
The people of Alston were lucky, not only had they developed a system of protecting
the town ages ago, but they also had the advantage of home field territory and
the assistance of those from Alston on the outside. No matter where one went,
the call for help from Alston came first. She knew two days before the alarm
sounded; the call went out about an all-out attack coming and Alston called
home all its children. They would meet up on the outside, talk with those on
the front lines here, and devise a plan of attack. “You’re good, go get
something to drink and eat before going back.” Patting the gnome on the
shoulder she went to the next in line when Mirva blocked her way.

“You’re the one who needs to
go eat, drink and rest. You’ve been healing for six hours straight. Go save
your strength, Kalana.”

The side of her mouth lifted
as she eyed the aging vampire. “I’m waiting for Drake.”

“Darling, if he does come in
through triage, you’d be pissed with yourself if you didn’t have enough strength
to be the one to heal him. Now go rest.”

Lifting her hand, Kalana
saluted her before heading over to the resting area. Grabbing a sandwich and
drink she sat down next to a broken tree.

* * * *

Kalana gasped, opening her
eyes with the fear that she’d fallen asleep to see Drake kneeling in front of
her. She blinked twice before she tossed her arms around his neck bringing him
to her. “Oh Gods, are you alright?”

“A few bumps and bruises but
doing good. You?”

Burying her face in the crook
of his neck, he wrapped his arms around her bringing her to sit on his lap.
“Tired. A lot of wounded, most not too bad.”

“Mirva told me you healed for
six hours straight. Don’t you know enough not to do that? They need you in case
a critical comes through.”

“I was waiting for you.”

“I wasn’t fighting the whole
six hours, Kay. You know the waves schedules. Even though I was up there
commanding with Rhys, I finally let Galen take over our forces with the third
wave. Let’s go home and get some rest before the dawn breaks.”

“Pappy?”

“He chuckled as he walked by
you, said you were drooling.”

“I-I was not.” Wiping her
mouth, she glanced up at his smile and chuckled. “I’m gonna smack you.”

“Please, I’ve had enough
smacking for one day.” Lifting her up into his arms he flash-stepped until they
arrived home. “I’ll carry you to the shower and bed, but I’m done, babe. I
couldn’t love you even if I wanted to—and I want to.”

“Don’t worry.” Kalana brushed
her lips across his as they stepped into the bathroom. “Let’s just sleep. We’ll
need our strength tomorrow.”

* * * *

Kalana lifted her arm wiping
the sweat off her brow. Frowning, she turned to see Marissa over by the water
cooler. It wasn’t the fact of Marissa being there, but something about Marissa’s
body language made her uneasy. “Philly, sense her for me.” She called over to
the young elf helping with the bandages. Turning quickly at Philly’s gasp,
Kalana almost missed the liquid Marissa poured into the cooler.

“Kalana, stop her! She just
poisoned the water!”

“Make sure no one drinks from
it.” Kalana shimmered, coming right next to Marissa and lifted her hand, her
knuckles reeling with the impact of soft flesh and bone yielding under her
assault to Marissa’s jaw. The she-wolf flew back, landing on the ground, and
Kalana was on her. “What did you do?” she yelled as she shimmered after her
flash-stepping. Kalana followed her up to the front line. Giving it one last
push she nailed Marissa from behind sending her tumbling over the war-torn
ground. “Get up, you traitor!”

Marissa crawled to her feet
as Kalana fully shifted to her Fae form. Stopping when she heard Drake call out
her name, she held her hand up and back as the fighting stopped on both sides.
“She tried poisoning the water cooler by Triage.” Her eyes narrowed as Marissa
stood with a smirk. “You dirty bitch, you’ve been feeding them information all
along, haven’t you?”

“You’re damn right I have!
This clan, this town, it’s nothing but a joke! I want more and Gilfore is going
to give it to me!”

“The only thing he’s going to
give you is a knife in the back,” Drake said as he approached.

“Even if he did it’s better
than what you gave me! You chose this half-blooded, dirty, human Fae over me!”

“You are a misguided,
miserable woman, Marissa.”

Kalana put her hand out
stopping him from coming any closer. “No, husband, this is my fight.”

“Oh you better believe it,
you dirty half-breed!” Marissa yelled. “And after I kill you, I’m going to hunt
down your spawn and kill her as well!”

Kalana roared with rage as
she sped toward Marissa. Arms out, wings behind her, she flew with lightning-quick
reflexes, smiling when Marissa shifted to wolf form. “That won’t help you.”
Kalana knew when she returned home she’d probably have to fight a Lyken or two
so she trained heavily for a Lyken combat the entire time she’d been away from
Alston.

Coming in fast, Marissa
lunged at her. Ducking, Kalana came up, grabbed her around the middle and
squeezed hard before throwing her to the side, knowing she’d just broken
several of the she-wolf’s ribs. Pausing, she stood there as Marissa slowly
climbed to her feet. “When you concede, let me know.” The corner of her mouth
lifted at Marissa’s growl and she shimmered, coming up on Marissa’s side. Kalana
joined her hands together in front of herself and swung them toward Marissa.
She hammered Marissa in the snout with enough force to send her flying twenty
feet along the ground. Chest heaving, she stood as Marissa shifted to human
form bleeding and bruised. Her eyes lifted when Marissa raised her hand toward
the other side of the line. Kalana eyed an older man standing there. One she’d
seen in the bar she’d worked at. He shook his head when Marissa cried out for him
to help.

“Are you the one then?”
Kalana called out, meeting the man’s gaze when he lifted his eyes. “The asshole
who started all this? Well come on!” she yelled as she shimmered to him.

She heard Drake’s yell behind
her as she came up swinging, taking the man to the ground. She shimmered again,
kicking him to the air. Unleashing her wings, she flew up meeting him in
midair. Going a bit higher she turned feet first and came down hard, planting
them in his chest. A roar of rage exploded in her when someone attacked from
behind and lifted her hand. Her energies pushed the Harpie away before
shimmering back to see Marissa standing.

Kalana glared at Marissa.
“Let’s go, bitch.”

Yelling, they ran at each
other. Kalana jumped four feet from her. Sending her energies to her fist, she
could see the glow of chakra from the area and came down with a vicious hit to
Marissa’s head. Her chest heaved as she stood in a half-kneeling position
listening as Marissa’s body hit the ground. Turning, she picked Marissa’s limp
body up and tossed her to the feet of the man she’d attacked. Her eyes narrowed
as he started clapping with a sadistic smile on his face. She sensed Drake’s
approach to her side.

“I’d heard you’d grown in
powers,” Gilfore said.

“You have no idea.”

“Oh I think I do.”

Kalana chuckled. “That was
but a sample. Take your bitch and go back to whatever rock you climbed out from
underneath.”